Pains of our Pasts
by PixieGirl13
Summary: Full Sum Inside: As the aftermath of Elsa's coronation and blizzard dies down, Hans is faced with a harsh punishment while Elsa is faced with the troubles of running a kingdom. Seeking answers to her questions about her powers and a way to rule her kingdom without stress, Elsa strikes out for discovery on her own. Along the way she encounters Hans, and they're begrudgingly forced..
1. Chapter 1 Competition and Fear

Full Summary: As the aftermath of Elsa's coronation and blizzard dies down, Hans is faced with a harsh punishment while Elsa is faced with the troubles of running a kingdom. Seeking answers to her questions about her powers and a way to rule her kingdom without stress, Elsa strikes out for discovery on her own. Along the way she encounters Hans, and they're begrudgingly forced to work together to get what they want as they travel through familiar and foreign lands alike.

A/N: Hello to both old and new readers! I figured on my down time between work and writing my own book series (check it out on my profile page!) that I should try my hand at fan fiction once again. While usually Disney isn't something I'd dabble in, I found the story Frozen to be something that needed more. I wanted more from Elsa and Hans. They were the most interesting characters to me. And I also wanted more folklore since Scandinavia is so rich in story of that kind. So this fic is just something to extend the story and really dig deep into the characters.

For now I'll be updating with a new chapter every weekend. So I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!

**Pains of our Pasts**

**By: Pixiegirl13**

Chapter 1 Competition and Fear

-Hans-

"My whole life has been about competition."

Sitting in the cold, damp dungeon of the Southern Isles castle, Hans had been reduced to talking to his one and only inmate: a rat. Only a fortnight ago he'd been a free man on the cusp of owning his own kingdom and with it hailing the honor and attention he'd always wanted and needed. Now it was a silly dream that would never come true. It was tragically funny how close he'd been to his dream, only to have it crash down all around him. It was as if fate had temptingly opened up that wonderful door only to slam it on his face and laugh at his pain.

"You don't really care all that much, do you?" Hans said with a sigh to the rat sniffing around the empty metal plate that used to hold food for the prince. "I bet any competition you've seen was pretty straight forward. It's different when it's all about pleasing your parents. You know, they probably wouldn't have even come to my wedding. For all I know, one of the others would find some stuffy, boring girl to marry the same week and I'd end up having just the cooks and the maids show up in Arendelle."

"Who are you talking to?"

Hans jumped a little in his startle, green eyes rising to connect with the same, exact color of eyes as his own. His frown was hard and cold when, through the dimness of the torches, he saw his twin sister standing there. She was the female spitting image of him, tall, red hair, sprinkle of freckles, and beautiful in every way on the outside.

"The rat," Hans answered as he leaned back against the cold brick wall of his cell and glared at the young woman through the iron bars.

"You are so pathetic," Cathrine said with a superior smirk. She had half her red locks pulled up so that her long neck and sharp facial features could be clearly seen. Her dress matched the color of her eyes. It was slimming at the waist, with lacy frills sticking up all around her bust line. The soft looking material told Hans that the garment had probably cost a fortune to make. Their parents spared no expenses for their one and only daughter.

"So what's the news, dear sister?" Hans said with a just as sharp smile. "What fate has Alexander, Frode, and Rune decided for me?"

"I don't know yet," Cathrine said with a little shrug of her slender shoulders.

"Ah. So you've come here to gloat," Hans said. "How petty of you."

"No, dear brother. How petty of _you_ to try and kill off a royal line simply to get mother's and father's attention," Cathrine said with a scoffing laugh. "You were so terribly desperate, weren't you? It's laughable, really. And still they don't care whether our brothers kill you, banish you, or leave you here to rot. They won't even take the time to see you. I don't know why you even bothered. You talk about competition as if you had a stake in the running, but we all know that you will and always will be dead last."

"If I had succeeded, you wouldn't be saying those words," Hans said while fisting his uncovered hands. He wished he had gloves. He always felt better with gloves.

"If you had succeeded, mother and father wouldn't have cared," Cathrine snapped back scathingly with a flinty smile. "Nobody would care. Admit it, Hans. You were born too late to account for anything. You were better off accepting that fate instead of trying so hard to prove yourself to everyone. You will be nothing but an unneeded son."

Hans glared back at his twin, too angry and upset to voice his thoughts. Cathrine was the only girl out of fourteen kids. She was also the baby of the family along with him. Having a girl was all Hans' mother wanted, so when she had twins, Hans had only been an addition to the family the king and queen didn't need or want. And then when they found out about Hans' unnatural ability, he'd become the unneeded son that was _cursed_. Hans had never stood a chance of competing against his older brothers and beloved sister. Cathrine was right about everything.

"They aren't going to kill me," Hans said with a seemingly uncaring wave of his hand. "None of them were there. Nobody knows the whole story. Everything is hearsay, which isn't enough for someone to be killed."

"Then you'll be banished," Cathrine said with a delighted smile. "And I'll never have to see you again. Better yet, you'll be sold into slavery."

"Slavery?" Hans said in confused surprise. He gave a nervous, little laugh as if to scoff at the idea as he asked, "Where did you hear that preposterous idea?"

"Oh, dear. You don't know?" Cathrine said, putting her hand up to her face as if she was fearful for her brother's lack of knowledge. "Poor little Hans. He has no idea how much his curse is really worth. Aw! Don't look so frightened. I'm sure they'll get a lot of gold for you."

"Stop playing with me, Cathrine," Hans said in aggravation as he sat up. "They wouldn't sell me. I'm not a slave. I'm a prince. The whole notion is barbaric."

"And so is the notion of you trying to murder a queen and a princess just so you could rule a silly, little kingdom," Cathrine said with a satisfied smile. "The thought of you just _trying_ to hurt anyone makes me want to giggle. You've always been spineless, Hans. Were you really going to do it?"

"Of course!" Hans argued loudly in indignation. "And I would have succeeded, too, if it wasn't for Queen Elsa's curse."

"I heard she was born with it. Just like you," Cathrine said.

"Then why is mine a curse?" Hans asked in a sneer.

"Because you yourself has always been one, brother," Cathrine said as if her twin was being stupid and the answer was obvious. "You've caused this kingdom grief since the day you were born. The only blessing you're ever going to be is when we finally get rid of you. It's one less mouth to feed each day. That money adds up, you know? With you gone, maybe mother could buy me more pretty dresses."

"I feel sorry for the foolish man who finally marries you, dear sister," Hans said with a mean, dauntless smirk. "He will have no idea how much of a snake you truly are."

"It's better to be a snake that isn't seen until it strikes than a rabid, mangy dog chasing his own tail such as you," Cathrine said, her words laced with venom. "Snakes live long from their cunning skill. You will be killed off soon enough for your stupidity."

"My plan wasn't stupid," Hans argued vehemently. "I had everything perfectly set out. Everything went well and according to plan until the very end. Anna was supposed to have died. She was on her deathbed the last time I saw her! If it wasn't for her, I'd be ruling Arendelle all by myself with nobody's help right now."

"You would be a horrible ruler, Hans," Cathrine said, her look downright condescending. "You don't have what it takes. You have no experience, studies on the matter, or the fortitude. Honestly, I have no idea why you were even born. You were a mistake, really."

"I have the studies and the experience," Hans said, completely ignoring the young woman's insults. After hearing them from all his siblings and his parents for so long he'd just been able to let the words roll right off his shoulders. "I've trained just as hard as the others. I've gone to every meeting with every kingdom I could. I've even been the captain of my own ship in the navy, for God's sake. I'd be a perfectly fine king."

Cathrine smiled sadly and sighed, her expression full of pity for her brother. She placed both her hands on one of the iron bars to the prison cell's door while giving her twin an imploring look. Hans did nothing but glare back at her, untrusting and unrelenting in his views.

"Come here, my dear brother," Cathrine said as she held her hands out through the bars into his cell. When Hans didn't move at first, she gave him a dazzling, encouraging smile as she said, "My hands are cold. Come here and warm them up for me."

Cold heart melting just slightly, Hans reluctantly stood up and walked over to Cathrine. He took her cold hands into his bigger warm ones with a small sigh. As he rested his forehead against one of the bars of the door and peered into his sister's clear, green eyes, Hans briefly remembered playing with the girl when they were younger. He remembered her genuine laugh and how sweet it could be. At a weakened time like this, Hans wished they could have the relationship they used to have.

"You are never, _ever_ going to be king, Hans," Cathrine told her brother with a small, piercing, mean smile. "After what you did, you're not even going to be a prince anymore. You should have stopped dreaming about ruling a stupid, little kingdom of your own a long time ago."

Hans swallowed, but that was his only outward display of fear. He was a proud young man, and even in the face of adversity Hans knew how to save face. Years of being degraded and forgotten had only made Hans' heart just as frozen and unbreakable as Elsa's ice powers.

The sound of doors wrenching open made the twins jump. Cathrine looked down the dungeon hallway and saw her brothers marching steadily their way. She let Hans' hands go as the men approached, allowing them to take up most of the space in front of Hans' cell door. The three main men there were Hans' oldest brothers who were well into their 30s and early 40s at this point. They regarded their youngest brother as if he was like any other prisoner there, absolutely no pity, sympathy, or understanding in their harsh, dark gazes. This came as no surprise to Hans.

"We've made our decision," Alexander said while rolling out a sheet of parchment that had their written statement about Hans' fate.

"You've made quite a mess of things, brother," Frode said as if he was a chiding mother. "Is there anything you would like to say for yourself?"

"No," Hans said clearly and firmly. He stood there like a soldier embracing his death bravely and unflinchingly. He was determined not to show fear and weakness to these men.

"Very well, then," Alexander said. He cleared his throat before reading off the written document before him, "The rulers of the Southern Isles have hereby banished you, Hans Magnus the fifth, from this land. You will be stripped of all titles of prince, navel officer, and son of the Magnus family. From this moment forward your name will take on your mother's previous last name. Henceforth you will be addressed as Hans Landa. You are now declared a common criminal and in the royal custody. We have the right to do with you as we believe will most benefit the kingdom. We hereby declare you the property of these fine gentlemen of the trading nomadic tribe of Kuchi. They will pick you up at dawn do with you as they please. The papers are already signed. You belong to them now."

"Property?" Hans said loudly in alarm. "This is ridiculous! I'm not a slave. I'm not property, Alex! You cannot sell me! This is a bias overreaction simply because I'm one of your brothers that you never liked!"

"These are our charges for your crimes! You almost killed royalty, Hans! You should be put to death for what you've done!" Alexander suddenly snapped back with cold, dangerous fury. "We are showing you mercy."

"This family has never shown me any mercy," Hans growled his retort, glaring back at Alexander and his brothers like they were his sworn enemies.

"Then consider this our first and only gift to you," Alexander sneered darkly.

That said, the men all turned and began to walk back out of the dungeon without any sort of goodbye to their former brother. Hans felt numb and shocked as he watched them leave. He stood there in the middle of his tiny cell, wide eyed and breathing hard from his growing panic. Hans didn't think his punishment would be this harsh. This wasn't part of his plan. His entire life was collapsing all around him.

He was done. He was finished. He was never going to be king. He was never going to be anything.

"Aw. You poor, pathetic thing," Cathrine cooed mockingly with a vicious smile. "I wish you could see the priceless look on your face right now, Hans. It would make anyone want to giggle in delight."

"This isn't fair!" Hans said desperately, taking a step forward and grabbing the bars of his cell door. "I haven't done anything bad to any of you! I've been the perfect brother!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Cathrine said while putting her hands on her hips. "You've failed at everything since you were born, Hans. Sure, you've tried to be perfect, but trying hard and good intentions isn't good enough. You were born too late to take any kind of throne, and no woman has ever wanted to marry you when you have a long line of better, older brothers just off to your side."

"But a slave, Cathrine? I don't deserve this!" Hans said, fear sneaking through his angry indignation.

"Look at it this way, dear _former_ brother," Cathrine said as she stepped in close and touched her pointer finger underneath Hans' chin. "You get a new life now. You get to start all over. Just this time…you'll get the life you deserve."

-Elsa-

"My whole life has been about fear."

Elsa hugged herself as she slowly stepped forward and into the room. It was the chamber-like room that Hans and his men had put her in after they'd defeated and captured her up on the mountain in her ice castle. One entire wall had been destroyed by her ice powers. It hadn't been fixed yet, allowing Elsa to see out over the crisp waters of the busy seaport. Outside it was warm and breezy. Elsa could hear the chirping of birds and smell the salty tang of the sea.

In the middle of the room were the broken metal clamps that had kept Elsa's powers at bay. Eventually she had been able to blast through them and get free, but Elsa knew that normally she'd never be able to escape these kinds of fetters. These shackles had been specifically designed just for her and her ice powers to be repressed.

Elsa kneeled down to study the intricate blacksmith work that went into making the manacles. Her fingers brushed up against the cold metal, remembering her overwhelming fear from that time. Back then with her panic and desperation Elsa had thought that the room was a simple prison and that her cuffs had been made for any old criminal. But she was wrong. She'd been so wrong.

These fetters and this room had been made just for her by her parents. Her father had feared her and her powers. He'd made plans for a day where Elsa's powers might slip. He'd planned on locking her up in here forever if she'd ever lost too much control.

"You had no idea how scared you made me," Elsa whispered softly.

Ever since her parents had died, Elsa had begun to talk to them while in private. Besides her teachers and maids, Elsa's parents had been the only people she'd been able to see while locked up inside her room. Talking to them even after their deaths just came naturally from being shut away from the world.

"Would you have kept me here all my life?" Elsa said, emotion making her voice waver. "Or would you have tried to kill me like Hans did?"

Elsa covered her mouth with her hand as tears rushed to her eyes. She suddenly gasped when she noticed the ground all around her was covered in thick ice. Standing up straight, Elsa jumped out of the ring of ice with fear making her eyes go wide.

For two weeks she'd had complete control over her powers. Elsa thought the days of losing control had been long gone. So how could this be? Was she retrogressing? Had she not been fixed at all? What if she lost control again and brought another storm upon the land? Nobody would survive another shock to the earth. The farmers would lose all their already stunted crops. They would have a famine. People would starve to death.

"No. I'll be fine. I have true love now," Elsa whispered as she forced herself to concentrate on her sister and the feelings she got when they were together and having fun. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out as evenly as possible, slowly allowing her frosty powers to subside and eventually fade the ice away.

Sighing in relief, Elsa looked down at the metal binds with a hard frown. Even after almost losing Anna, her kingdom, and everything she held dear, she'd somehow found a way to open back up to Anna and find that love and happiness she hadn't felt since she was a child. While Elsa was thankful for that love and her newfound control over her ice powers, the past few days had been stressful. Being queen meant she had lots of responsibilities. Despite the fact that Elsa had studied her entire life for this job, it still wasn't something she particularly enjoyed. If anything, it reminded Elsa of her time underneath her parents' rule. There was so much pressure to rule properly and be the noble figure they'd trained her to be.

Elsa's heart was probably free from its icy prison of self-loathing and fear, but her body was now bound to be this rigid queen that needed to rule this kingdom. Elsa thought she'd been ready for the responsibilities, but it was different putting her studies she'd learned from books and scrolls into real life practice. Nobody had trained her to act accordingly in public with all these important officials that sometimes severely intimidated her with their superior attitudes and self-assured actions. Nobody had told her about the sneaky advisors, the incompetent advisors, the sickly pompous ones, or the ones that were so sweet and kind to her that they made her want to weep with gratitude.

There was so much that went into being a queen that now Elsa felt woefully unprepared for the burden. How was she going to rule properly when she was so terrified of her powers acting up again? That thought alone scared the young woman half to death.

Elsa's pale brows furrowed when she spotted something she hadn't caught during her initial capture. She quickly gathered up her dress in her hands as she kneeled down beside the iron clamps. Pushing the heavy chains away, Elsa brushed her thumb over a part of the metal shackle that had become grimy and dusty from years of disuse.

Her eyes narrowed in curiosity at the crest or some kind of symbol she uncovered on the side of the shackle. She'd never seen it before. Maybe it was something the local blacksmith put on all his products. If not, her parents might have the symbol in their records.

"Elsa?"

Elsa jumped and gasped in surprise, looking back over her shoulder at the doorway where Anna stood with concern on her face.

"Anna! You scared me!" Elsa said with a breathless smile, placing her hand on her chest by her now rapidly beating heart.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked as she breezily strolled into the room. "I was looking all over for you! This room is so secluded. I almost forgot it was here."

"I just wanted to see what kind of materials this room would need for construction to fix the wall," Elsa said while standing back up.

"And what are those?" Anna asked, pointing to the fetters. She gasped dramatically like she always did, placing her hands over her mouth as she asked in horror, "Did Hans make those?"

"I don't think so," Elsa said quietly as she stared down at the broken clamps. Her expression was unreadable. There were certain times she let her emotions shine through for Anna to see, but erasing more than a decade of behavior was hard for Elsa.

"Then who made them?" Anna said. She ventured into the room to get a closer look at the manacles that had kept Elsa locked up in the bare, depressing room.

"I think father did," Elsa answered in a whisper.

"Oh, no, Elsa, don't say that!" Anna said with another one of her dramatic gasps. She was the complete opposite of Elsa. She showed all her emotions on her sleeve. Sometimes it was frustrating for Elsa. Her sister so easily displayed emotion when she could hardly manage a smile some days. "Our parents would never do something like this to you!"

"Then who could have made it?" Elsa asked critically. "Here, I found this symbol. See? Is this the blacksmith's signature?"

Anna leaned down, doe-like eyes wide with curiosity. She studied the symbol for a second before shaking her head. "No, I don't think that's it," she said. "When I went to the blacksmith to make skis for Krisoff's sleigh, he didn't have this symbol on them. Maybe these are from another kingdom. Maybe the Southern Isles from where Hans is from."

The girl shrugged, feeling uncomfortable about this controversial subject. Anna didn't get the same kind of pressure and abuse from her parents like Elsa had gotten. Anna suffered more from neglect. She'd grown up with her parents focused on Elsa and shaping her into their perfect queen. Anna had practically raised herself with no studies or control. At the moment Anna found no fault in that kind of parenting. She adored her dead parents and didn't want to view them in any kind of bad lighting.

"I can look into it," Elsa sighed with a small, relenting smile in her sister's direction.

Elsa understood why Anna had an aversion to sullying their parents' image. Anna had all the loving contact from their parents that Elsa never allowed herself to receive. To darken their image would only make the poor girl feel bad and guilty. Elsa didn't want that to happen to Anna. She deserved to remember their loving words, touches, and presence now that they were gone.

"Okay," Anna said with a small, warm smile of her own. Elsa loved having her sister in her life again. It made everything easier. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Elsa answered with a nod. "Remembering everything just kind of makes me sad."

"Aw! Don't be sad, Elsa!" Anna said while coming in for a bone-crushing hug that Elsa had easily gotten used to and now was beginning to adore. The hugs always made Elsa's pale cheeks redden from embarrassment, though, since it made them both look like little girls. "You're an awesome sister and the best queen Arendelle has ever seen! You'll be okay."

"Thanks, Anna," Elsa chuckled. She placed her hands on Anna's shoulders while asking, "So why did you come and find me?"

"It's lunch time, silly," Anna giggled. The peppy young woman bounced excitedly as she took her sister's hand into her own and began to guide her out of the room. "I'm starving! Let's get back to the dining room so we can finally eat!"

"Okay! Okay, Anna, just slow down!" Elsa laughed. She had to pick up her pace to avoid tripping. She gave the room one, last look before Anna escorted her into the hallway.

As she followed her sister past the many oil paintings and regal suits of armor, Elsa decided she was going to find the creator of those shackles. Unlike Anna, Elsa wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery. She needed to know if her parents were the true designers behind the cuffs. She needed to know what their intentions were for her before they died. Elsa wasn't sure if she was going to like the answers she found, but she wanted to try to know what her parents knew about her powers. She wanted to know where her powers came from and if there was anything she could do to gain more control. Elsa was done being the scared, little girl that did everything her parents told her to do. She wanted to be wise and in complete control over her ice abilities, and she figured the best way to do that was to go out on her own and find those answers.

"I'll race you to the dinning room!" Anna said as she began to run down the hallway.

"No fair! Your shoes don't have heels, you cheater!" Elsa called back with a laugh.

A/N: Please review! Questions, comments, and/or praise always help me as a writer. Thanks! And I'll see you guys next week with another chapter!


	2. Chapter 2 A New Owner

A/N: I know three weeks ago I said I'd update, but things at work picked up. Life is a lot harder to predict when you're not going to school. Regular updating like I used to do might not be something I can do, but I'm going to try. Fan fiction writing is just too much fun for me, and I really appreciated all of your reviews from last chapter. Please enjoy chapter two!

Chapter 2 A New Owner

-Hans-

That night Hans slept fitfully. His dreams were full of nightmares and memories. Hans didn't know which was worse or what the difference between them was at this point. He had them both so often during the past few years that sometimes he wasn't sure if his past was real or just an awful nightmare he'd made up for himself.

One dream took him to a time that seemed very long ago. In the horrible memory from his past, Hans was only 12-years-old. His best friend at the time was a stable girl that was the same age as him. She had reputable parents who took great care of the stables and horses. They wanted their daughter to be just as successful and capable as them, so she was allowed to prepare the horses for all the noble folk in the castle there in the Southern Isles.

"They don't take me seriously, Astrid!" Hans was complaining to his friend. "They ignore me all the time. And when they don't, they're making fun of me!"

"Hans," Astrid giggled as she brushed one of the horses down. "You're the youngest in the family. Your brothers are a billion years older than you! Prince Alexander is 32! Of course they're going to tease you. My brothers tease me all the time."

"Yeah, but they don't ever tease my sister," Hans said from where he was idly cleaning a saddle, his shoulders slumping as his rant was coming to an end.

"That's because she's your mother's favorite. If they tease her, they'll get in trouble," Astrid said. "Duh."

"She's everyone's favorite. I don't know why. She's so mean," Hans grumbled.

"She's not mean to _everyone_," Astrid said with a teasing grin.

"She's mean to me!" Hans declared hotly with a hand on his hip. "She sneaks into my room at night sometimes and cuts my hair! That's why it looks awful and chunky all the time. Then my mom sees it and punishes me for it! And one time I swear she got my brother to light a lantern full of poop in my room! It smelled so bad! No, stop laughing! It's not funny!"

Astrid's laughter was light and bell-like. It traveled throughout the stables for all the horses to hear. Hans' cheeks turned red as he saw his friend with her shoulders bouncing as her head leaned back to enjoy the laugh. That's what he loved about Astrid. She wasn't so uptight like all the other girls and boys he met at other kingdoms. She wasn't like the prissy girls his parents pushed him to like or the boring boys they wanted him to write letters to and to be friends with. Astrid was just Astrid, and he liked that. Their friendship wasn't forced.

"You're not the one who had to smell it for a week," Hans grumbled with a rueful smile.

"I work in a stable with horse poop all the time, Hans!" Astrid said, her warm brown eyes twinkling with amusement. "All my clothes smell like horse poop. Everything in my family smells like horse poop."

Hans had to laugh about this. Sometimes it was hard to picture himself outside of his clean, stuffy kingdom and see things from a normal viewpoint. Being inside his castle with the toxic environment of hostility and guarded emotions warped even the most strong and solid of minds. Getting outside of it and seeing things from Astrid's point of view always gave him clarity.

"It's just not fair," Hans finally said after they were done giggling.

"No. But life's not fair," Astrid said with a shrug. "Not everyone is born a rich prince like you. Not everyone gets warm and cozy families to live with. Not everyone gets a stable full of amazing horses to work with like I do."

"I'd rather have a nice family than be rich," Hans said with a little frown. He turned back to his saddle, using his rag to get every detail of blemish off the leather. Hans was a bit of a perfectionist. He always wanted to do things 100 percent and have things perfect. If he was working on this saddle he wanted it to look perfect when he was finished with it.

Hans had meant what he said, though. He was teased constantly or ignored completely by his siblings. He just wanted some peace and some love from his parents and especially from his older brothers. He wanted approval, most of all. He wanted someone to acknowledge that he was worth something besides the last and least loved in a long line of princes.

"Hans?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked as she stood on her tiptoes to look over her horse.

"Yeah," Hans said with a false smile. That expression soon changed, though, when he heard sharp barking and the familiar laughing voices of his brothers outside the doors of the stable. Both him and Astrid watched silently as Frode and two of his other brothers Boden and Tomas strode into the building with Frode's new dog on a leather leash. The dog, Torolf, was half wolf, energetic, and not tamed in the least bit. Frode bought him because he thought it would be cool if he had a pet that was part wolf. He even boastfully named him after Thor's wolf; that's how great he thought the idea was.

Astrid visually stiffened up at the sight of the dog. Hans could tell she was frightened of the canine. She wasn't used to such dogs. The only ones she encountered were the tiny ones in the village or the ones used for royal hunts. This wolf hybrid was big and scary looking for the young girl.

Despite her obvious fear, Astrid curtsied for all the princes before asking shakily, "H-How may h-help you, my p-princes?"

The three brothers snickered at Astrid's stuttering, smiling at each other before Frode came forward with his dog and ordered, "Boden, Tomas, and I need our horses. Now, girl. And try not to dirty the equipment."

"Y-Yes, sir," Astrid said with another dip. She gave a sharp scream when Torolf barked and lunged toward her while pulling on his leash. The brothers laughed again.

"What did I tell you, brothers? Torolf is perfect. He'll make the whole kingdom respecting me soon enough," Frode said with a laugh.

"Yeah, first you have to start small and scare half the townsfolk," Tomas said with a smirk. "Start with the little stable girl and then work yourself up to maybe street rats next week. Brilliant plan."

"If you really wanted to be heirless, brother, you should have just told us," Boden said with a roll of his eyes. "No woman is going to want to be in bed with you if you have that beast by your side all the time."

As the three princes laughed again, Hans and Astrid began to saddle up the correct horses. Hans didn't mind helping his frightened friend out, especially when the dog was now making the horses nervous. The dog's vicious growling and barking made the horses shy away and anxiously skitter about while they were being saddled.

"Easy, easy, boy," Hans whispered to one of the horses that had began to neigh loudly in extreme agitation because of the dog's hostile presence. He rubbed the horse's nose as he looked over to the half wolf. The thing was pulling on its leash to wildly bite and bark like a crazed beast. Hans' eyes widened in alarm when he saw that the leather leash was beginning to tear. At any moment the dog was going to get free!

"Frode, You need to take Torolf out," Hans told his brother as he finished up with the horse's bridle.

"He's fine," Frode said in annoyance, not even looking at his younger brother.

"But his leash-!"

"I told you he was fine, Hans!" Frode snapped back at his brother with an aggravated glare. "Don't be a scared, pathetic, little girl. My dog isn't going to hurt anyone unless I order him to. Don't think you know more than me. I'm-!"

Before Frode could even begin his next sentence, the leash broke and Torolf was racing across the stable floor straight for Astrid and her horse. Astrid screamed in terror. Her horse began to buck wildly in fear. Hans desperately rushed to cut off the dog.

Everything happened at once. It took seconds for the tragedy to happen, but Hans would replay those seconds more than a dozen times for many years to come.

Torolf lunged and sunk his teeth into Hans' flesh when the boy put himself into harms way. The feeling of the teeth was like razors being embedded into his skin and muscles. Hans could feel the power behind the dog's jaw as it clamped down on his forearm and began to shake him viciously all around.

Hans could remember himself screaming from the agonizing pain, but he mostly remembered how much Astrid wasn't screaming anymore. As he fell down onto his back on the stone floor of the stable with Torolf still on him and grinding his teeth into his arm, Hans turned his head to the side and saw his best friend lying there, unconscious, and her jaw bloody and crushed to bits. One of the horses had bucked her by mistake, its powerful hind legs crushing the bone its hoof it came into contact with.

All Hans could do was scream. Tears blurred his vision as he shouted Astrid's name over and over again. Excruciating pain surrounded him and overwhelmed him from the inside and outside.

Hans gasped awake from his nightmare, his entire body shivering but covered in sweat as he cringed and clutched his arm that still held the scar from that horrible day. Chest heaving, Hans sat up on the cold dungeon floor he'd been sleeping on. He rubbed his forehead with both his palms to try and quell his extreme feelings and get rid of the horrible memory from his mind.

Astrid had lived, but she'd been disfigured and unable to speak ever again. Torolf was put to death by orders from the king, something to this day Frode held over Hans' head. Frode blamed Hans and Astrid for his precious dog's death, and Frode never got punished. It was Astrid's family that was wrongfully accused by the third prince in line for the throne. The family was fired, fined, and pushed out of the kingdom. Hans never got to see Astrid ever again.

Sighing heavily, Hans leaned against the wall in exhaustion. He didn't know what to do or what to think anymore. He'd messed up so much. It was irreversible now. In just a few hours he was going to be put on a boat and taken away from his homeland and to a foreign place he'd never seen before. There was nothing he could do anymore except try to adapt and try to find a way to prosper in a new world.

It was all a lie he told himself, though. Hans didn't think he'd survive this banishment. He had nothing to live for anymore. He wasn't a prince anymore. He'd never be a king. He'd never rule anything. He'd never reach his goal in a place where he was going. He was going to become a slave and stay that way for the rest of his life.

But the silly hope wouldn't go away. He still wanted to live for some reason. Maybe he was desperate. Maybe he was going insane. Or maybe Hans truly believed this was what he deserved and that he should take his punishment with as much dignity and pride as he could muster.

-Elsa-

"Elsa?"

Elsa looked up from the scroll she was looking at, cringing as she came back to reality. Her snowy white hair was undone from its braid and allowed to freely spill over her shoulders. She wasn't in her dress at that early morning hour. Instead she was in a long nightgown with a big, furry blanket covering her shoulders. She was barefoot, too. The young woman had definitely not anticipated company that night.

"Anna? What are you doing here? It's so late!" Elsa hissed from her spot curled up on the library floor.

Elsa was surrounded by dozens of books, scrolls, and letters that her kingdom had collected over the years. The burning candles on the candelabra were half way melted and nearly finished, telling Anna that her sister had spent most of the night reading all of these boring recordings. Anna only knew of the one section of the library where the fiction was. Other than that the library, which was two stories high filled to the brim with every type of wring, was a mystery to her. Her big imagination just couldn't handle reading all the stuffy, boring books about history and old royal people she never even heard of. And everything else was in languages her parents had never forced her to learn.

"I was going to ask you that," Anna said in a tired mumble. Yawning like an African hippo, the younger sister shuffled into the room and plopped down beside her sister. "I had a bad dream, so I went to your room. You weren't there."

"I'm sorry. I was busy," Elsa said, feeling a pang of guilt for not being there for her sister simply because her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"Doing what? What is this exactly?" Anna asked while picking up a parchment. She cleared her throat before dramatically reading the title, "_Three Ways to Find Dwarfs_. Dwarfs? You stayed up all night to read about dwarfs? Okay? I don't mean to question your reading interests, but is this what queens usually do?"

"No, it didn't start out with dwarfs," Elsa said, snatching the parchment out of her sister's hands.

"What did it start out with?" Anna asked curiously. "Are dwarfs even real? I haven't seen one."

"A lot of people don't believe in trolls," Elsa pointed out as she began to tidy up her space. "But father knew of them somehow. He went straight to them when I hurt you that first time. I always wondered how he knew them or if he knew other creatures we always hear stories about."

"So…dwarfs?"

Elsa sighed, deciding to finally come clean. She just couldn't lie to Anna. Not after all that had happened recently. Anna needed and deserved to know the truth.

"I was reading about dwarfs because when I looked up that symbol from the irons, I found that it is one from a tribe of dwarfs that live just over a few mountains from here. I wanted to visit them and see if they know who made the irons."

"Why are you so obsessed with those things?" Anna asked critically. "They were just some stupid irons Hans found to put you in."

"No, they were professionally made, Anna," Elsa insisted with a little grimace. She hated arguing with her sister. It brought up so much anxiety. It took all of Elsa's control to keep her ice powers at bay when she was so stressed. "I didn't know how to escape them. I had to use all my power to break them. If I wasn't so desperate, I wouldn't have been able to do it."

"Do you really think father would have them made for you?" Anna asked. "That just seems so cruel."

"I don't know, Anna," Elsa admitted quietly as she stared down at the books. "But I want to find out."

"So what if father did have them made?" Anna asked, feeling uncomfortable even considering her dad would do such a thing. "What happens then? That doesn't change anything, Elsa. You'll just be more sad than you are now."

Elsa was silent for a few heartbeats. Anna studied her sister's face, trying to read it and understand what Elsa could be thinking about. It was so hard to tell with Elsa sometimes. She could be inscrutable. While the sisters had taken a lot of steps forward in their relationship recently, some things still hadn't changed. This only frustrated Anna, but she would never say that to her sister.

"I want to know the truth," Elsa finally said. "I have to know. I have to know what our parents knew. I have to know where my power comes from. I have to know how…to control it."

"I thought you learned that already," Anna said. "You stopped the blizzard. You can make the whole courtyard into a sheet of ice so everyone can go ice-skating! You've been doing so well, Elsa!"

"Thank you," Elsa said with a slight blush of her cheeks and sad smile. "And you're right. I do have more control than I did before. But…it's still hard. Sometimes it's really hard when I'm stressed and it's hard to focus. I don't want to mess up again."

"But…I'm here now," Anna said with some disappointment in her voice and gaze. Her shoulders were slumped as she asked, "I thought I was helping. I just want to help you, Elsa, and make you feel better."

"Oh, Anna, you do. You really do," Elsa assured the young woman as she reached out and took her sister's hands into her own. Anna's hands were so nice and warm compared to Elsa's. While it felt good for Elsa, the freezing sensation made Anna give a cute, little shiver. "It's so easy to control it when you're around. You always make me smile. But you can't be by my side all the time."

"That's true," Anna admitted with a sigh. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to visit the dwarfs," Elsa said with resolution. "I'm going to get my answers."

"What if you don't like your answers?" Anna asked innocently.

"I-I don't know," Elsa whispered. "I'll find a way."

-Hans-

Hans stood proud, tall, and completely devoid of emotion as the king and queen of the Southern Isles looked upon his disheveled and bedraggled appearance. He hadn't bathed in days, and that morning his royal clothing had been exchanged for raggedy attire that Hans would never even dream of donning. The young man was completely humiliated in front of his parents that day, but he didn't show it in the least bit.

The Kuchi tribesmen were putting a light set of metal fetters on Hans' wrists when the leader, Kirvo, addressed the king and queen who had taken their precious time to see their son off. Kirvo was tall, trim, and quite handsome despite the long, white scar running down the side of his face and outlining his jaw line. Unlike most people in the kingdom, Kirvo had darker skin that was a rich sepia color. His men had the same colored skin, and they were strong, buff, and very used to manning their trader ship along with all the slaves they transported.

"Is there anything you would wish to tell your son?" Kirvo asked the king and queen, a heavy accent in his speech. "This will be the last time you see him."

"He doesn't deserve our words," the king said regally. He didn't seem like he cared very much about the transaction. He had more important things to do. The old man hardly knew his youngest son. He had plenty of other princes as wonderful heirs. Hans just wasn't needed and caused more grief than anything else. This had been his last chance. It was Hans that ruined it, so this was naturally his punishment. It seemed very fair to the king.

"Typical," Hans scoffed with a snarky, mean curl of his lip. "No words at all? It's not like I'm surprised. You've only spoken five words to me the entire time I've been alive."

The queen suddenly stepped forward and slapped Hans so hard across the cheek that the sound of skin connecting with skin echoed throughout the dungeon. Hans' entire cheek was swollen and bright red from the hit. His green eyes glared down at the ground as he clenched his jaw and fists. Even before he was banished and carried off to another land to never be seen again, his mother still treated him like she always did.

"You're a disgrace," the queen seethed into Hans' turned down face. "We let you represent our kingdom and you come back shaming our entire family. I expected more from you. You couldn't even do the simplest thing like marry a queen right like I told you to do. What is wrong with you?"

"I'm cursed. Don't you remember your own words, Mother?" Hans retorted with a cruel smirk, meeting his mother's matching emerald gaze with a fearlessness he'd never shown her before.

The queen slapped her son once again with such viciousness that it made the Kuchi men blink in surprise. They'd never seen a white queen behave in such a way to her own son. Prince or no prince, it was a rare sight to see. Usually woman from this culture were docile, quiet, and all polite smiles.

Breathing hard, the queen stepped back and away from her son before ordering Kirvo with a fierce glare, "Get him out of my sight."

"As you wish," Kirvo said with a dip of his head. He whistled sharply at his men while making a snapping gesture at them. Immediately the two out of the three big men grabbed Hans from both sides and began to escort him out of the cold dungeon.

Hans kept his head held high the entire walk. He might have looked like a pauper with his rag-like clothing, mussed hair, and red mark on his cheek, but Hans walked out of the dark dungeon with his back straight and self-assurance in his steps that made him look important. He especially didn't look back at his parents. Hans wanted to leave the kingdom with all his pride and dignity attached, and that would mean writing off the entire place and his family.

The Kuchi men took Hans straight through the back dungeon doors so that they didn't have to traverse through the halls of the palace. They were let out of the palace walls by the security guards without many words exchanged. Sooner than Hans expected, he was headed for the docks of the seaport that sat right next to the gates.

The summer day was beautiful. With the red sun setting on the ocean's horizon, the salty breeze cooling his face, and the grand castle of his family standing tall behind him, Hans decided to embrace his fate. He was leaving this place in fetters, but he wouldn't be a slave for long. Hans knew he'd find a way to freedom or work his way up the ranks. A part of Hans knew this turn of events wouldn't hold him back. It would slow him down, but he'd rise up again. The young man's goals had always been lofty. Maybe now without a family to hold him back he'd finally get what he'd dreamed of.

It was a short walk to the docks. The familiar scent of the waters, smelly fish, and heavy wooden finish for the freshly made boats put Hans in a strange kind of peace with himself. He liked being at sea. He didn't think he'd mind the ship ride to whatever foreign lands the Kuchi tribe was going to take him.

Kirvo's ship was easy for Hans to recognize in the throng of sea vessels at port. It wasn't very big, but the way it was shaped and the fact that it had not a single sail made it very distinguishable. Hans had only seen these kinds of rowing ships a few times in his life. They seemed primitive to him because they needed a crew of rowing men to get anywhere when sails so easily carried the same kind and amount of cargo with half the manpower.

As the men took Hans up the plank and aboard the ship, Hans took the time to finally look back at his old home he believed he would never see again. The moment was almost bittersweet. There were things about the Southern Isles he would miss dearly, but there were other things he would readily say goodbye to. Despite his recent physical slavery, Hans felt somehow emotionally free.

That sense of freedom came to an end very, very fast.

"You're a proud one, Pirro," Kirvo said with a superior smile. He somehow towered over Hans, intimidating the young man despite the calm way he presented himself to his new master. "That will be your new name. Pirro."

"What does it mean?" Hans asked with a frown. He didn't like how the man talked to him like he was some stupid child. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about your native language."

"It's not from my native tongue," Kirvo said. "And you will not speak to me or any of my men unless spoken to. Understand?"

"If you're going to name me, then I would like to know what the name means," Hans said. "And how do I ask for simple things that I need if I cannot address you? That rule is purposefully unfair."

Kirvo openly laughed at Hans. The sound was loud and mocking. He paused only to repeat what Hans had said to his men. Hans found himself turning red in humiliation as the men boisterously laughed at some kind of inside joke. Apparently whatever he had said had been hilarious, but Hans didn't know what it was.

Kirvo suddenly stepped back, unbuckled the mean looking whip attached to his belt, and snapped it so fast and hard that Hans didn't know he'd been hit at first. The crack in the air was loud and powerful. The intense pain that followed was even more brutal, though. It felt like his cheek that had previously been slapped had been sliced open, and that's exactly what had happened. Gasping in pain, Hans raised his hand to his throbbing face and brought it back to see fresh, crimson blood coating his fingers.

Placing his whip handle below Hans' chin so he forced the man's head up, Kirvo told Hans, "That is only a taste of what will happen the next time you disobey me. I am your Master now. You are the slave. You do as I say or I will punish you. Understand?"

Hans glared fiercely up at his new owner, tightening his jaw in anger, pain, and humiliation. Kirvo had done all this to make him look like a fool in front of his men. Nevertheless, Hans wasn't a dolt. He knew resistance would be useless and stupid. Just like his life before, Hans was forced to behave. He nodded in understanding, hating Kirvo more than anything at that moment.

Kirvo stepped back and snapped orders at his men. Hans was forced back a few steps. He grunted while Kirvo grabbed his forearm and forced his entire arm forehead with his inner wrist facing toward the sky. The third man from the group took a barrel and placed it between Kirvo and Hans before walking away to retrieve something else. Kirvo smirked down at Hans as he pushed the young man's arm down so it rested on the top of the barrel.

"What's going on? What is this for?" Hans asked, feeling his stomach wrench in apprehension. Something bad was going to happen. His instincts were screaming at him to run and/or fight to escape whatever unknown danger was coming.

Kirvo made a tsk tsking sound with a shake of his head. With one hand still holding down Hans' arm, Kirvo took out his whip one more time and cracked it.

This time Hans couldn't hold the shout of pain inside. Squeezing his eyes shut as his side hurt like a million bees had stung him at once, Hans leaned against the barrel for support. The pain took all the air out of lungs. Hans hadn't felt something this awful in years!

Hans opened his eyes when his mind seemed to focus through the pain just enough to catch Kirvo giving another order. Instantly Hans' eyes fell on the hot metal rod being handed to his new master, and the sight made the young man's heart stop in gut-wrenching fear. It was a branding rod. Just like a cow in a field, Hans was about to be marked as a slave.

Too scared for words, Hans watched with wide eyes and blanched face as Kirvo took the rod and pressed the burning red tip with its symbol against his skin. For a split second Hans felt nothing and no pain seemed to exist. Then everything hit him at once and Hans couldn't stop his scream. The pain was overwhelming, zapping all the energy out of Hans as he clung to the barrel with teary eyes. It was so much that Hans felt like he was going to faint. All he could do was kneel there gasping and shivering as the heat seared his skin and burned his nerve endings. When it was all over, Hans didn't even think he could stand up straight.

Hans gave another shout of pain as someone's hand gripped strands of his hair and pulled it so he was forced to look up. He found Kirvo there looking down at him with a smile of satisfaction. Squeezing Hans' hair even more, Kirvo leaned down to say quietly into Hans' grimacing face, "Now everyone will know you belong to me."

A/N: I know this chapter had a lot more Hans, but that means there will only be a lot more Elsa for next chapter. I love her character too much, and I really can't wait to have her grow in this story. So that will be more for next chapter. I'm going to try to get that out next weekend or two weeks from now. That's my goal. So I'll see you lovely readers next chapter!


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